The present invention relates to baseballs and a method of manufacturing and pitching the same, and more particularly to baseballs economically formed of durable material while nonetheless having performance characteristics at least equivalent to those of a regulation ball.
Pitching machines as employed in batting ranges, or in general for batting practice, customarily dispense large numbers of baseballs which are collected and returned to the pitching machines for reuse. In the batting range disclosed in copending Smith application Ser. No. 27,290, now U.S. Pat. No. 4,220,331, entitled "Baseball Batting Range Retrieval System", a conveying system is employed for returning batted baseballs to a plurality of pitching machines. A suitable individual pitching machine is described in Smith application Ser. No. 850,472, now U.S. Pat. No. 4,197,827, entitled "Coacting Wheel Ball Projecting Device". Since a large number of baseballs are continuously used, the expense of providing baseballs can become a major consideration. Another consideration relates to pitching accuracy, i.e., a suitable target range so the pitching machine can deliver a baseball in the strike zone without danger to the batter. Ideally, a good quality regulation baseball can be delivered by a pitching machine such as described in the aforementioned application with considerable accuracy. However, wear and tear on the baseballs with continuous use makes frequent replacement necessary. Not only do balls completely wear out but also the accuracy of a baseball is affected by wear and by the accumulation of foreign particles, for example dirt from its surroundings, such that theoretical or initial pitching accuracy achievable with a new ball cannot be maintained. Furthermore, a conventional ball tends to be orientation sensitive whereby conveyor feeding of balls with random orientation can affect the pitching accuracy since the stitching on the ball may engage the pitching machine wheels differently on successive pitches. Also, conventional balls tend to hang up in conveyors and don't roll down conveyor troughs exceptionally well because of the friction of the exterior covering between balls and because of the stitching employed. Of course, wear of the balls also aggravates this problem. It would be of advantage to provide an economically formed baseball of homogeneous material such as plastic so as to reduce the cost of replacing baseballs.
Smooth plastic balls have been employed with pitching machines, e.g. in batting ranges, but hit the target area poorly. They also tend to be slippery and hard to handle, especially when wet. Plastic balls provided with simulated seams molded into the exterior are also found to be inaccurate and the seams cause the balls to be orientation sensitive in pitching machines. Furthermore, plastic balls made to be identically similar to baseballs as regards hardness, weight, etc., do not wear well, further aggravating the problem of pitching inaccuracy and necessitating replacement.
In one instance, a plastic ball has been disclosed as formed with a urethane interior and a conventional baseball outer covering layer (U.S. Pat. No. 3,976,295), but this construction renders the ball more expensive than a plastic ball while also having the problems associated with a regulation baseball. Although it has been suggested such a ball need not be provided with the conventional baseball covering layer, nevertheless the suggested underlying plastic material is found to wear poorly, having the problems associated with other prior art plastic balls. In the case of the urethane material employing water as a blowing agent, the ball has a large proportion of urea tending to make the ball somewhat rigid. Consequently, wear and useful lifetime as well as accuracy would be inhibited if the ball were not covered. Hollow plastic balls have also been used, but are not well adaptable for use in a pitching machine because of excessive compressibility.
A more resilient and tougher ball would be preferable from the standpoint of wear and life expectancy, but such a ball would ordinarily not have the characteristics of a regulation baseball since it would not be expected to travel as far or as well as a harder ball.